‘Nangi Naked’ by Fauzia Rafique

When a woman
dares to bare
i listen
listen with my gut, the womb
she says more
than the words
can tell

Listen, not miss
nothing, embed
her messages
in the genetic code
of my memory
for the generations
to come

My generations will know
in their gut, the womb
the messages of the woman
who dared to bare
anywhere, everywhere
she said more
than the words
could tell

In Kashmir
Lal Ded/Lilla Arifa, the poet,
left ‘marital home’ going
naked on the street
Lal’s poems remain
but her actions
say more
than her words
can tell

In America, Russia,
Egypt, Tunisia
the woman who dares to bare
screams
and shouts:
‘my body
is my body, my life
is my life
I’ll rule control use
my body, my life
everywhere, anywhere’

A woman who dares to bare
declares war
means rebellion, means terrorism
means armed struggle
armed with the body
presented
presented by the gods of religions and wars
as a formidable despicable sinfully
desirable
weapon of
mass destruction.

To own buy sell
kill fire repair resell reuse
the woman who dares to bare
says no.
my body
is my body, my life
is my life
I’ll rule control use
my body, my life
anywhere, everywhere

naked
or carefully covered
No is No, and
which part of any no
do you not understand
Or is it that
the naked no
says more
than the no
can tell

.

‘Dare to bare’ is the title of Ramabai Espinet’s article in ‘Aurat Darbar: The Court of women’ (Three O’Clock Press, Toronto 1995)
‘Which part of no do you not understand’ is a slogan.